John Meehan. For me, a case is an opportunity for generating discussion
and reflection. There are other means for generating opportunities for
discussion and reflection. In the classroom, my preference is to use a
case to achieve the discussion and reflection among the students and
myself, so I like to encourage as wide a definition of case as possible.
My preferred choice of case approach, however, is to use a case as
deeply as possible in order to help facilitate deep learning (I am still
in the process of exploring what deep learning can be.) for the students
in my courses. So I use one one case for the entire semester for the
integrative capstone course in the MBA program. My classes are small
relative as compared to others, averaging 15 with a range of 7-24.
Almost all of my students are working full time and attending the
evening MBA on a part-time basis. Classes meet once a week for 150
minutes, 5:45-8:15 or 8:30-11:00PM.
You have posed three starting points.
1. THE RELATIVE MERITS OF THE CASE METHOD OVER OTHER TEACHING/LEARNING
STRATEGIES. I assume that students are heterogeneous in the experiences,
learning styles, and learning development stage they bring to the
course. Within the case method I believe that I can provide a wide
enough range of approaches to embrace most if not all of that diversity
of experiences, learning styles, and stages of learning. However, I have
found it necessary to mix other approaches with the case method,
specifically, occasional mini lectures, group work, and out of class
research. But the case method for me is the core of how I help others
learn. A case, however, is a bounded body of evidence that does not
reflect what the student must encounter in the real world. Nowhere can
the student go to the bookshelf and take off a volume and find all of
the evidence he/she needs to diagnose and interpret a situation at work.
And students sometimes have difficulty relating to the specific industry
or issues in a specific case. Keeping these limitations in mind has been
helpful for me.
2. THE TECHNIQUES COLLEAGUES EMPLOY TO MANAGE DISCUSSIONS TOWARD A
VALUABLE OUTCOME. Instead of using a different case each week, I use
just one multi-functional, multiple issue case for the entire semester.
It allows the students to become very familiar with the evidence that
does exist in the case. It also allows us to move at a pace that
accommodates the slowest learners in the class by giving us sufficient
time to go into full depth on each issue. There is little wasted
potential in the use of the case. I also have developed my facilitation
skills to provide a safe environment in which the students can risk
sharing their experiences (as they relate to the issues) and their
incomplete and partially thought out ideas. It is important for them to
see their colleagues as sources of feedback for their interpretations
and their analyses. I give the students a paragraph of feedback on their
contributions to the discussion each week as well as a grade (we agree
on the standards and criteria at the beginning of the semester). The
students also do three written analyses of the case for me, the first
two being ungraded working papers at weeks 6 and 10 in a 14 week
semester (again, the criteria and standards are agreed on at the
beginning of the semester). I give them extensive feedback on all three
papers as well as the opportunity to discuss and process the feedback
when I return the papers. The working paper with feedback concept taps
into the learning effectiveness of repetition and practicing and
learning from doing. Throughout the semester, I have found that one of
the most critical skills is my question asking skill and helping the
students develop theirs. That is a real challenge for me. Surfacing
assumptions and values and examining their reasonableness is another key
area that is a challenge.
3. THE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES PRESENTED BY DIFFERENT CONTEXTS. I have
never taught undergraduates so I realize the limitations of what I have
learned about the case method and learning from the graduate student
context with which I am familiar. I also have small classes, another
limitation. Students without any full-time working experience are a
small minority in our program, as well. On the other hand, 40% of the
students in our program are women. There are at least two major
challenges I am aware of in this course. The first is getting the
students to draw on the prerequisite courses of the program,
particularly the accounting and financial courses. It takes a great deal
of encouragement and support for the students to begin to see that I am
serious about integration and synthesis and that they need to use what
has gone before. The second is getting the students to go beyond the
analyses that they have developed in class, particularly where the
assumptions are concerned.
I hope that I have offered some insight that is useful to you. I am
willing to expand on any of the issues I have raised if you are
interested. I have collected a number of very useful references in the
key areas to help me. Tom Hawk. MBA Department, College of Business,
Frostburg State University. 301-687-4485.